Fifty Years of Home Economics

Merry Greene, the Family & Consumer Science teacher at the William Allen Middle School explains to her students that on this day they will be making cookies. Recipes are picked, duties are assigned and students move quickly to their cooking areas to prepare the dough.

Over the course of the class, they will use math, science and cooperative learning to complete their assignment.

“These are skills they will need in the workplace,” said Greene.

And it is the teaching of these skills that has brought home economists together for 50 years in South Jersey as part of the New Jersey Home Economics Association.

The chapter, begun in Levittown, was composed of home economists with undergraduate and graduate degrees. One of the founders was Florence Heal, then chair of the Home Economics Department at Moorestown High School.

The group, known now as the Family & Consumer Sciences/Home Economic Professionals of South Jersey, still has Moorestown ties as Greene is president of the group and Barbara Amon, a teacher at the high school, is an active member. (The Family & Consumer Science program is one of the programs to be cut in the 2011-12 preliminary budget adopted by the Moorestown Board of Education.)

The group meets on a regular basis for professional improvement. Members of the group are active in family and consumer science or home economics field or have retired from these fields.

“It’s a chance for people to collaborate,” Greene said of the group’s meetings. “And it’s an opportunity to maintain interest in our chosen field.”

In addition to connecting with other Family & Consumer Science professionals, the organization is active in the community, collecting food for local food pantries and collecting household cleaners.

“We put our expertise to use for the good of the community,” Greene said.

The FCSHEPSJ has about 65 active members, but is open to anybody who has a degree from an accredited college in Family & Consumer Science/Home Economics.

The members have seen their field change over the years, from one of learning the skills of cooking and sewing to more of a focus on consumerism. Students still sew and cook, but students look at advertising and how that affects what they purchase. Cooking incorporates reading food labels, making healthy choices and learning about calories.

“We are broadening their perspective and giving them the knowledge to make those decisions,” said Greene.

The organization will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a dinner on May 12. Family & Consumer Science/Home Economics professionals who would like more information about the organization can contact Greene at mgreene@mtps.com or  at 856-778-6620, ext. 23389.